Formula 1 Returns to USA With Races In Austin, 2012-2021

Far Out, to use a term from the era when I was in the U.S. Air Force, and a friend of mine from the base in Italy planned his leaves so he could attend Formula 1 races in Europe, including Monza in Northern Italy.

A course will be built near Austin for the event.

First, let me say, not unlike E. Hemingway writing THE TORRENTS OF SPRING to "cool down" after working on THE SUN ALSO RISES, I am writing this to cool down from a heavy duty fiction writing project that is taking a lot of my time and thoughts lately.

And, I thought I had already put on this SPORTSBYHEIDI BLOG some notes on my riding in TWO circa 900 Horsepower Porsche Turbo 935 race cars. I did not, so will paste below.

Also, I have filed somewhere a very neat photo I took at the 24 Hours of Daytona, in the pits, as I stood in front of one of those Porsche 935s on raceday. I thought a nearby race official would "bust my chops" for standing in front of the Porsche in the pits, but he let me do my photography work; I guess he figured if the driver ran me over as he hurried to get back to the race, it was my own fault.

So I thought today I had to find this photo of an Audi I took in Salzburg not long ago. You can look at this photo and know this car moves.

I had forgotten the Porsche dealership reference surrounding the license plate; it goes with this story.

Be assured this A6 can haul you know what; and be sure you will not find one in the States that could match it -- there would be too many constraints to meet U.S. specs, etc.

So enjoy this read.

Re: the Austin races, take my word for it -- just listening to the Ferraris and other cars screaming around the course will be one of the thrills of your life.

Make your plans now to attend this great Sporting Event.

So, pasting what I thought I had put on this blog earlier:

RACING STORY BY WRITER/ARTIST PAUL HEIDELBERG
(Punctuation, capitalization, etc., is in notes format.)


ph notes: 2100 pounds only for weight of porsche 935 turbo.....from www, viper, featured on SPEED channel tv program, weighs more than 3000 pounds for one model; cars on show had much bigger engines than normal, meaning more than aforementioned weight.
by 1982, when ph rode with michael andretti in broward county for press day for the inaugural grand prix of miami, and with tom blackaller at press day for the 1983 imsa 12 hours of sebring, the porsches ...both owned by fort lauderdale businessman preston henn, were rated at ca. 950 hp.

thus while it took 1,000 hp viper and 1000 hp super ford 7 seconds or so, or longer, to get from rolling start 60 mph to ca. 160, heidelberg went from 60 to 170 with michael andretti in circa four or five seconds.....this was the first time michael andretti, future indy car champ, had driven anything more powerful, any race car, than a ca. 160 mph super vee, vw powered open wheeled race car.

one driver on the SPEED tv show mentioned being thrown back in his seat in his car. that was nothing like what heidelberg experienced when andretti nailed it, as heidelberg sat on a piece of foam rubber to andretti's right, holding onto roll bars -- there was no seat; a second or two later, heidelberg lurched forward as andretti braked and downshifted.

blackaller, also a yacht racer who raced in such events as the america's cup, approached or exceeded 200 mph on the long straightaway at sebring, an old airplane runway (heidelberg did have a passenger seat and seatbelt for this ride)....blackaller also took a bad four wheel slide in turn 11 when he almost flipped the auto, heidelberg realized about three days after the race's end (most of the accidents in that race that Heidelberg covered came at turn 11).

after learning of the ride, and that heidelberg had said to blackaller, "don't worry about going too fast, i have been in one of these before," fort lauderdale race car driver bob lee told heidelberg two things:

"never tell a race car driver not to worry about going fast; and i would never get in a car with that guy. he drives like crazy."

also, heidelberg made a tape recording of the lap at sebring raceway by placing a tape recorder on floor in front of him. the whine and noise of the transmission was surprising, at times making more noise than the powerful engine.

to hear similar sounds, search the internet (you will probably go to youtube)
for "video with sound porsche 935 turbo going fast"

one video of a silver porsche reminded heidelberg of the sound of the transmission and the normal high-pitched whine of porsche race cars, distinctly different from big American v-8 powered cars, for example. the video reminded heidelberg of his ride with blackaller at sebring.

Note: To learn more about Formula 1 racing in The Lone Star State, "google":
austin formula 1 races

PHOTO: FAST AUDI A6 "AT REST" IN SALZBURG
COPYRIGHT (C) PAUL HEIDELBERG
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED